Day: January 16, 2009

1 The wicked flee when no one pursues,
but the righteous are bold as a lion.

There are two types of righteousness: the imputed righteousness of Christ to all who believe in Jesus Christ, and the practical righteousness of the faithful who live in obedience to God. The second type is the inevitable result of the first. There is no such thing, biblically, as a person made righteous by Christ who does not live righteously. This statement always gets the response about no one being perfect and sinlessness only being attainable in heaven, and that is true.

But we must never excuse our sin on the basis of its inevitability. The Bible is equally strong on the fact that true believers are changed people. They do not live as they once did. They live a righteous, albeit not sinless, life.

Such living brings courage. We are trusting God for the salvation of our souls. We are hanging on to Him through faith in Jesus Christ because we know that there is nothing we can do to merit salvation ourselves.

If we can trust God to do that immensely huge thing, then we should never be fearful of mere humans. Given what God has already guaranteed us for eternity the machinations of humans against us should never bother us.

Can there be a better comment on this than Jesus Himself in Luke 12:4?

4″I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

“All people can do is kill you”, Jesus says “so don’t be afraid”. We often think just the opposite. We fear those who can take our lives and live without thinking about what God has said.

Today, live in the knowledge that in Christ you are secure forever and that no one and nothing is going to stop you from living righteously, no matter what. After all – all they can do is take your life.